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Linda Cheveski
Linda Cheveski (née Tanner) was the daughter of Elsie Tanner. She grew up in Coronation Street, but after marrying Ivan Cheveski in 1958 and later emigrating to Canada. She made return visits to Coronation Street (normally when in marriage problems with Ivan) in the 1960s with her most recent visit being in 1984. Biography 1940-1961: Early life in Weatherfield Linda Tanner was the daughter of Arnold and Elsie Tanner. She was born in Annie Walker's living room at the Rovers Return Inn on the 8th January 1940, being delivered by Ena Sharples. Linda grew up in the Street, presumably attending Bessie Street School. Like her mother Elsie, Linda was interested in men and eager to marry. At thirteen, she fought off her mother's boyfriend Chuck Nelson when he tried to rape her. She took a job at Elliston's Raincoat Factory and briefly dated David Barlow before falling for Roy Newman, an American GI stationed at Burtonwood. The pair became engaged but the whirlwind romance didn't last. In 1957, she met Ivan Cheveski, a Polish immigrant, and they married in 1958. Their lives together began happily with a move to Warrington, but Linda quickly grew dissatisfied with the marriage as Ivan wanted to support her and didn't want her go off to work or to begin a family until they were financially secure. When she fell pregnant in late 1960, she fled to Weatherfield and moved back in with Elsie and younger brother Dennis. Ivan tracked her down but she was surprised when he liked the idea of having a baby, so they reconciled. Deciding to stay in Weatherfield for the time being, the Cheveskis bought 9 Coronation Street and moved in. Linda gave birth to a baby boy on 14th June 1961 after two days in labour. Although Linda settled into motherhood well in Weatherfield, Ivan became interested in a job at his friend's firm in Canada. Linda was less keen on emigrating and ripped up the forms. Eventually she agreed, but didn't tell Elsie - eventually Ena Sharples told her. The Cheveskis left the country as planned a week later. 1962-2020: Later years Linda, Ivan and Paul returned to the UK for Christmas 1962, and Linda admitted to Elsie she wasn't happy in Canada. Although Ivan was offered his old job back, they returned to Montreal. During her brief visit, Linda became suspicious that Elsie was having an affair with Len Fairclough. Linda and Ivan had a second son, Martin Cheveski, born in 1964. The family returned again in 1966, but although Linda wanted to stay in Weatherfield, Ivan had his heart set on Birmingham. Linda had been having an affair with a Canadian called Mike, and didn't know whether or not to return to Ivan. As Linda was about to follow her husband to Birmingham, Paul went missing - he later turned up, having been rescued from the canal by a mystery man. The incident brought Ivan back to Weatherfield, and the Cheveskis reconciled again, and moved to Birmingham. Aside from a brief return for Elsie's wedding to Steve Tanner in 1967, Christmas that year and Dennis's wedding the following year, Linda was not seen on the Street again until 1984, when she was entrusted by Elsie to take care of the sale of No.11 after she had left to live in Portugal. By this time, Linda was estranged from Ivan and hoped to stay in Weatherfield, but Elsie was adamant that the house be sold. Linda sold up to Bill Webster for £11,500 and left the Street again. At some point after 1987, Linda returned to Canada once again and as of 2020 was still living out her years in Toronto. Background information *Linda was one of the original characters of Coronation Street. She appeared in the first scene in Episode 1. Although she did not appear continuously between 1960 and 1984, in terms of time between first and last appearances in the programme Anne Cunningham was the longest serving actress of the original cast. *Linda and Ivan's emigration to Canada in 1961 came about because the Equity actors' strike prevented Anne Cunningham from renewing her contract. *Anne Cunningham's last appearance of Linda was in a spin-off video The Life and Loves of Elsie Tanner, released in 1987 shortly after the death of Patricia Phoenix. The video featured Linda, Emily Bishop and Mike Baldwin talking about Elsie's life and featured the use of clips. However, the video is somewhat not canon as it was known for hinting that Elsie had died, but in 2011, Dennis Tanner (Philip Lowrie) mentioned Elsie's death occurred in the mid-2000s, meaning these events could not have taken place. Also, Linda's visit wasn't mentioned in the series either. *Linda was last referenced within the show in Episode 10000 (7th February 2020) in which a letter from a recently deceased Dennis revealed she was still alive and living in Toronto. First and last lines "I brought you some empties. Oh, and I want a quarter of boiled ham" (First line, to Elsie Lappin) --- "Bye Bill" (Final line) See also *Full list of appearances External links *Linda Cheveski at www.corrie.net Category:Coronation Street characters Category:Tanner family Category:Cheveski family Category:Original characters Category:1940 births Category:1958 marriages Category:Residents of 9 Coronation Street Category:Residents of 11 Coronation Street Category:1960 debuts Category:1984 departures Category:Barmaids Category:Bessie Street pupils